


Forgiveness and Remorse

by Sildominarin



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-05
Updated: 2012-10-05
Packaged: 2017-11-15 17:30:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/529788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sildominarin/pseuds/Sildominarin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fill for Avengers kink:</p><p>Okay, l've seen a lot of fics where Steve apoligizes to Tony for what was said on the Helecarrier (a few that went the other way around) but none where he apoligizes to Bruce for essentially treating him like a f**** ticking bomb instead of y'know a human f***** being. So yeah, I'd say Stve owes him an apology.</p><p>Bonus points if Stevecactually manages to figure this out on his own.</p><p>Hope it serves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forgiveness and Remorse

Steve Rogers was always amazed that, in the middle of the 'city that bever slept', the Avenger's Tower could be so quite come nightfall. 

It made a sort of sense, he suppossed. Unless they had preplanned activities- or Clint, who knew how to turn raw materials into culinary gold, was cooking-, most Avengers went their own ways once the day ended. Tony had a worrying tendancy to lock himself in his lab for as long as the rest would let him and refuse to break for meals. Natasha and Pepper could usually be fond browsing some high end boutique, each relishing the chance to shop without a male presence. Thor found New York 'as unique and fascinating as the jewels of Niflheim!', and was probably wandering happily through any given borough. Clint would be wherever Coulson was, following him around like a puppy and insisting that no, he could lift that, 'you keep your arm him the sling'.

And Bruce....

Bruce was usually in his labs, synthesizing or measuring or discovering the best ways to use an acid to fry chicken, and generally avoiding everyone in favor of science. It was his way, and no one took it personally. From the moment that Tony had shown him the shiny floor of labs, the Avengers had known that this was going to be Bruce's space, and that they would be welcomed to find other places to play 'Pin the Tail on DUM-E'.

And it was good. It was good that they had their own space, and that they all could go somewhere private if they needed it. Tony had given them a gift of unimaginable wealth when he'd offered them that space, and Steve knew that he was not the only one grateful beyond words to be welcomed into the 'Stark Tower Family'.

But it was so quiet at night. And in that silence, in the darkness of his room, his mind had the chance to scream at him.

His time on the helicarrier had not been happy by any stretch of the imagination. He'd barely been there before Loki had been spotted, but that brief time was enough to boggle the mind with the sheer technology of the age. And then Loki had been on the helicarrier, and there had been one fight after another, both with his team mates and Loki's minions.He'd had no time to sit and breathe and take in everything around him. It had been a rough few days, and when the Chitauri were finally gone and done with he'd been content to just get on his motorcycle and go for miles and miles.

But he'd come back, just like they'd all come back, came back to join a team and do what they could against those people that threatened to world. Steve had done his best to do well by them as their leader, their captain, and they in turn had accepted his confusion with all things modern. It was a slow relationship to grow, but the Avengers were friends and comrades and partners-in-crime, and it was good. It was. Even if not all the public totally accepted them yet, even if people still thought they were responsible for what had happened, even if they were still learning to trust each other, it was fine.

And then, quite suddenly, it wasn't.

Reporters liked the Avengers. They were always good for a ratings bump, and for the most part the Avengers liked reporters. Well, Tony liked reporters. Clint liked to screw with reporters, Thor liked to talk with people, and Natasha liked to make them twitch. Steve had the S.H.I.E.L.D company lines memorised, and tolerated the microphones shoved in his face. But Bruce was usually left alone. Normally he was with the S.H.I.E.L.D agents, getting replacement clothes and letting the doctors check him out, so it was no problem. But that afternoon he hadn't needed to Hulk out, which meant that he was with the rest of them as they began the clean up. And the reporters wouldn't go near him. A few flinched back if he got too close, fear in their faces. Bruce, used to it, handled things easily. Tony made enough nosie to draw their attention away, and if Clint and Natasha made threatening faces at the rest no one noticed.

Steve was.... devastated. He'd barely hear the questions shoved at him, barely saw the microphones. Bruce was a friend, a team mate. A better man then most, who'd gone through terrible trials in his life and retained the ability to be selfless and forgiving despite it. Despite everyone treating him like a time bomb. Despite Steve himself, Captain America, the team leader, treating him like a monster, someone to be avoided and mistrusted and locked away.

They'd made it back to the tower, but Steve had been distant and lost. Tony's ribbing and Clint's attitude had been unable to lift his spirits, and eventually he'd retreated to his room. Sleep was rare enough on good days, but now it was past midnight and he was still pacing, his mind a mess of guilt and self-loathing. 

It was not going to be a good night.  
__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__

Bruce liked labs. Always had. They were clean and sterile and devoid of emotions, and he was very fond of them. Tony had sensed a kindered spirit when he'd invited the older man back, and it had been fantastic ever since. No longer fleeing, no longer hiding in squalor, Bruce found himself truly happy for the first time in months. The simmering rage that so drove him had settled to a bare whisper, a reminder that he must always be careful but that it was okay not to always be miserable. And he was okay with that.

It was an overly sensative experiment. Really, it wasn't a true experiment at all. Something Tony had said had inspired him, and he was just analyzing how the arc reactor technology could be used when conducted through a metal sheet. The fact that there was a microwave meal on that sheet meant nothing, and he wasn't planning on including that in his notes. But unlike Tony he had to eat, and this was the most convienant way not to leave the labs. Not to avoid the other avengers, far from it-- he liked them, liked when they spent free days teaching Steve and Thor about 'Midgard' and New York and the best way to really screw up a S.H.I.E.L.D report. But after weeks and weeks and weeks of hiding, he had some serious science to make up fo-

"Dr. Banner?"

Bruce jumped a little. JARVIS was a great help in experiments and knew all the best Thai take out resteraunts in the city, but physisict still wasn't used to a disembodied voice in his ear all the time. "Yes, JARVIS?"

"Captain Rogers is requesting entrance to the lab, sir."

"Oh." Steve, Bruce had observed, generally had the mindset of 'it's your space, I won't intrude, and science scares me anyway', so that was a first. "Uh, yeah, sure, let him in."

And when Jarvis did, Bruce was a little surprised. Steve looked a wreck, tired pinched and pale and excuding an air of general misery. But before the man could work himself into real worry- the others tended to treat him as their go-to medic so that SHIELD could be avoided, but Bruce wasn't sure how to fix a super-soldier-, Steve stopped, almost subconciously at attention, and looked very interested in the floor. It was the attitude of someone with a lot on their mind, and Bruce knew that nothing he could say would mean anything until the captain had gotten it out.

"Steve--?"

"I'm sorry." The words came in a rush, a floof of emotion and remorse in that broken tone that had Bruce leaning back, wide-eyed. "God, Bruce, I am so sorry. I never meant to treat you like that, like a monster or a time bomb. I should never have said it and I am so, so, so sorry."

Huh. Not what Bruce was expecting, and not what he was used to dealing with. Not that the fact he was intensely confused helped much either.

"Steve, I...I really have no idea what you are talking abou-"

"On the helicarrier, during the Loki Crisis." The speed was gone, leaving plain misery. "I treated you like a danger, someone who couldn't be trusted, and I am so sorry."

"Steve, you really don't have to apologize. We were all tense, and you were only acting on insinct. Not like you were wrong, either." He held up a hand to forestall the denial. "But what brought this up?"

"I..."It didn't seem possible, but Steve shrank even farther into himself. "I don't want to be like those reporters."

And then it clicked. Bruce was used to it. Civilians were afraid to go near him, and reporters avoided him like the plague. They are all afraid, for good reason, but their leader didn't deserve to bear that kind of burden.

"Steve, listen to me. You accepted me without qualm once we had a chance to settle down and get our heads on. You accepted the Hulk in the middle of battle, and acknowledged that he had the ability to help and the intelligence to listen. You trusted him, and you trust me. I can't ask for more. So I forgive you if you really want forgiveness, but in my book there is nothing to forgive."

It was a lot of words for him, but Steve seemed to unfold a little. "Are you su-"

"Positive. Trust me, Steve--I'm a doctor."

And despite his cynicism, despite everything he had seen in his life, Bruce decided that in front of him might just be the kind of good hearted, do-the-right-thing man from childhood story books. Steve had lit up at the words, shadows gone, and Bruce had to fight to keep from grinning back.

"Thank you. I'll leave you to your science."

It was a split second decision, but he knew, somehow, that it was the right one. "You can stay. I am hijacking Tony's super secret science to cook with."

And if the experient proved that Dr. Erskine's formula allowed super soldiers to pick up and serve frozen meals that had been heated far beyond their original intentions, well....that wasn't going in his notes either.


End file.
